Pacing Calendar

EasyTech Pacing Calendar Grade 8

This Pacing Calendar provides a suggested order of assignments and timing for utilizing the EasyTech curriculum in your classroom. For planning purposes, each week contains approximately 90 minutes of curriculum delivered through whole group, independent, or guided practice implementation models.

Prior to beginning the school year, it is recommended that you create student technology portfolios (digital or print) to provide students with a way to share their learning. The portfolio may include EasyTech certificates, reports, and Application Exercise entries and work products. Pictures are a great way to capture your students engaged in the learning process and can be used at the end of the year for a class slideshow or a technology showcase.

Note about Keyboarding: remember to provide students with time each week to improve their technique, accuracy, and speed through Adaptive Keyboarding after they have completed the Keyboarding Lessons and Guided Practices.

Digital Literacy Concept

Month 1

Curriculum Title

Implementation Model

Type

Time (in minutes)

Keyboarding

Week 1

Adaptive Keyboarding: Urban Keyboarding Explorer

Whole Group

Adaptive Keyboarding

45

Online Safety

Week 1

Healthy Computing

Whole Group

Discussion

30

Online Safety

Week 1

Healthy Computing Reflection

Independent

Application Exercise

5

Online Safety

Week 2

Don't Even Go There!

Small Group

Application Exercise

45

Online Safety

Week 2

Texting Safety Discussion

Whole Group

Discussion

30

Online Safety

Week 2

Texting Safety Discussion Reflection

Independent

Application Exercise

5

Online Safety

Week 3

Think Before You Text

Independent

Application Exercise

45

Online Safety

Week 3

Online Status Message Basics Discussion

Whole Group

Discussion

30

Online Safety

Week 3

Online Status Message Basics Discussion Reflection

Independent

Application Exercise

5

Online Safety

Week 4

Understanding Identity Theft Discussion

Whole Group

Discussion

15

Online Safety

Week 4

Understanding Identity Theft Discussion Reflection

Independent

Application Exercise

5

Online Safety

Week 4

Halt! Who Goes There? Avoiding Online Creeps

Small Group

Application Exercise

45

Keyboarding

All

Adaptive Keyboarding: Urban Keyboarding Explorer

Independent

Adaptive Keyboarding

Tips & Suggestions – These Lessons are spiraled from previous years to help set a firm foundation for safe, appropriate, responsible, and effective technology use throughout the year. Begin the month with a whole group introduction to Adaptive Keyboarding so that students understand how to access and use if they finish their classwork early.

Digital Literacy Concept

Month 2

Curriculum Title

Implementation Model

Type

Time (in minutes)

Online Safety

Week 1

The Bystander Effect

Independent

Application Exercise

80

Online Safety

Week 2

Digital Citizenship Quiz

Independent

Quiz

15

Hardware and Software Fundamentals

Week 2

Computer Fundamentals: Operating Systems and Browsing

Independent

Lesson

25

Hardware and Software Fundamentals

Week 2

Creating File Structures

Independent

Application Exercise

45

Hardware and Software Fundamentals

Week 3

Input, Output, and Files

Whole Group

Discussion

30

Hardware and Software Fundamentals

Week 3

Input, Output and Files Reflection

Independent

Application Exercise

5

Hardware and Software Fundamentals

Week 3

Hardware and Software Fundamentals: Networking

Independent

Lesson

25

Hardware and Software Fundamentals

Week 3

Network Compatibility

Whole Group

Discussion

30

Hardware and Software Fundamentals

Week 3

Network Compatibility Reflection

Independent

Application Exercise

5

Hardware and Software Fundamentals

Week 4

Using Networks

Independent

Application Exercise

60

Hardware and Software Fundamentals

Week 4

Hardware and Software Fundamentals: Computing in the Cloud

Independent

Lesson

15

Keyboarding

All

Adaptive Keyboarding: Urban Keyboarding Explorer

Independent

Adaptive Keyboarding

Tips & Suggestions – When students finish their work with class time remaining, have them practice their Keyboarding skills using Adaptive Keyboarding.

Digital Literacy Concept

Month 3

Curriculum Title

Implementation Model

Type

Time (in minutes)

Hardware and Software Fundamentals

Week 1

Computer Fundamentals Unit Quiz

Independent

Quiz

25

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 1

Online Ethics

Whole Group

Discussion

30

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 1

Online Ethics Reflection

Independent

Application Exercise

5

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 2

Ethics and Consequences

Independent

Application Exercise

45

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 2

Online Communications: Communicating with Instant Messaging

Independent

Lesson

15

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 3

What Is Thy Message?

Small Group

Application Exercise

90

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 4

Online Communications: Reading and Writing Blogs

Independent

Lesson

18

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 4

Online Communications: Navigation and Mapping

Independent

Lesson

15

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 4

Online Communication: Communicating with Podcasts

Independent

Lesson

15

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 4

Online Communication: Sharing on a Community Site

Independent

Lesson

15

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 4

Communicating Online Unit Quiz

Independent

Quiz

10

Keyboarding

All

Adaptive Keyboarding: Urban Keyboarding Explorer

Independent

Adaptive Keyboarding

Tips & Suggestions – Remind students that using the internet and communicating online are a responsibility and that they need to be careful whether at school or not.

Digital Literacy Concept

Month 4

Curriculum Title

Implementation Model

Type

Time (in minutes)

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 1

Online Communication: Using Personal Learning Networks

Independent

Lesson

15

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 1

Project Teamwork!

Small Group

Application Exercise

35

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 1

Internet Usage: Navigating the World Wide Web

Independent

Lesson

15

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 1

Internet Usage: Effective Search Strategies

Independent

Lesson

15

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 2

Internet Usage: Being a Global Citizen with Mapping Tools

Independent

Lesson

15

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 2

Booking Brian's Vacation

Independent

Application Exercise

60

Internet Usage and Online Communication

Week 2

Internet Usage Unit Quiz

Independent

Quiz

10

Word Processing

Week 3

Put Word Processing to Work for You!

Independent

Application Exercise

45

Word Processing

Week 3

Newsletter

Small Group

Application Exercise

45

Word Processing

Week 4

Word Processing: Formatting Essays Using MLA

Independent

Lesson

15

Word Processing

Week 4

Word Processing: Proofreading and Correcting - Level 3

Independent

Lesson

12

Word Processing

Week 4

Word Processing: Creating Original Works

Independent

Lesson

45

Keyboarding

All

Adaptive Keyboarding: Urban Keyboarding Explorer

Independent

Adaptive Keyboarding

Tips & Suggestions – Provide students with opportunities to publish their classroom writing in word processing documents along with digital or hand-drawn art that illustrates their writing. When students finish their work with class time remaining, have them practice Keyboarding skills using their Adaptive Keyboarding assignments.

Digital Literacy Concept

Month 5

Curriculum Title

Implementation Model

Type

Time (in minutes)

Word Processing

Week 1

Collaborative Tools in Word Processors

Independent

Application Exercise

45

Word Processing

Week 1

Word Processing: Finding Alternative Solutions to Problems

Independent

Lesson

15

Word Processing

Week 2

Well Stated! Technical Writing

Independent

Application Exercise

45

Word Processing

Week 2

Word Processing Middle Grades Unit Quiz

Independent

Quiz

15

Computational Thinking

Week 3

Computational Thinking: Models and Simulations

Independent

Lesson

15

Computational Thinking

Week 3

The Perfect Park

Independent

Application Exercise

120

Computational Thinking

Week 4

The Perfect Park (Continued)

Independent

Application Exercise

Keyboarding

All

Adaptive Keyboarding: Urban Keyboarding Explorer

Independent

Adaptive Keyboarding

Tips & Suggestions – If you are new to Computational Thinking, complete the Lessons alongside your students. Facilitate a discussion about other areas of life where computational thinking can be applied.

Digital Literacy Concept

Month 6

Curriculum Title

Implementation Model

Type

Time (in minutes)

Computational Thinking

Week 1

Computational Thinking: Implement and Test

Independent

Lesson

15

Computational Thinking

Week 1

Egg-cellent Egg Drop

Blended Learning

Application Exercise

90

Computational Thinking

Week 2

Egg-cellent Egg Drop (Continued)

Blended Learning

Application Exercise

Computational Thinking

Week 2

Algorithmic Problem Solving Unit Quiz

Independent

Quiz

15

Coding

Week 3

Shapes and Drawings

Blended Learning

Codesters

90

Coding

Week 4

Chat with Your Sprite

Blended Learning

Codesters

90

Keyboarding

All

Adaptive Keyboarding: Urban Keyboarding Explorer

Independent

Adaptive Keyboarding

Tips & Suggestions – Completing the Coding Lessons alongside your students is a great way to share the learning experience.

Digital Literacy Concept

Month 7

Curriculum Title

Implementation Model

Type

Time (in minutes)

Coding

Week 1

Recycling Loop

Blended Learning

Codesters

90

Spreadsheets

Week 2

Spreadsheets: Functions

Independent

Lesson

15

Spreadsheets

Week 3

Now I'm Hungry

Independent

Application Exercise

90

Spreadsheets

Week 4

Spreadsheets: Sharing and Filtering

Independent

Lesson

15

Spreadsheets

Week 4

Very Interesting

Independent

Application Exercise

45

Spreadsheets

Week 4

Spreadsheets: Trends and Forecasts

Independent

Lesson

15

Keyboarding

All

Adaptive Keyboarding: Urban Keyboarding Explorer

Independent

Adaptive Keyboarding

Tips & Suggestions – Have students practice entering data to create spreadsheets based on the content being studied in core curriculum classes, physical education classes, or other classes. When students finish their work with class time remaining, have them practice Keyboarding skills using their Adaptive Keyboarding assignments.

Digital Literacy Concept

Month 8

Curriculum Title

Implementation Model

Type

Time (in minutes)

Spreadsheets

Week 1

Cell Phone Usage

Independent

Application Exercise

35

Spreadsheets

Week 1

Spreadsheet Software Unit Quiz

Independent

Quiz

15

Presentations

Week 1

Presentations: Motion Design

Independent

Lesson

15

Presentations

Week 1

Presentations: Designing Non-Linear Presentations

Independent

Lesson

15

Presentations

Week 2

Career Exploration

Independent

Application Exercise

90

Presentations

Week 3

Career Exploration (Presentations)

Whole Group

Presentations

Week 3

Presentation Software Unit Quiz

Independent

Quiz

15

Multimedia

Week 3

Multimedia: Creating and Enhancing Images and Graphics

Independent

Lesson

15

Multimedia

Week 4

Multimedia: Designing Documents with Desktop Publishing

Independent

Lesson

15

Multimedia

Week 4

Multimedia: Creating and Editing Video and Audio

Independent

Lesson

15

Multimedia

Week 4

Multimedia Unit Quiz

Independent

Quiz

15

Keyboarding

All

Adaptive Keyboarding: Urban Keyboarding Explorer

Independent

Adaptive Keyboarding

Tips & Suggestions – Remind students that presentations are more than just what is engaging on the screen. Help students understand that presenting includes their attitude, body language, and voice tones. Facilitate a discussion about how to make a presentation engaging through voice.

Digital Literacy Concept

Month 9

Curriculum Title

Implementation Model

Type

Time (in minutes)

Multimedia

Week 1

Storytelling Through Film

Small Group

Application Exercise

90

Multimedia

Week 2

Storytelling Through Film (Presentations)

Whole Group

Online Safety

Week 2

Online Status Message Basics Discussion (Review)

Whole Group

Discussion

15

Online Safety

Week 2

Understanding Identity Theft Discussion (Review)

Whole Group

Discussion

15

Online Safety

Week 3

Online Safety: Dealing with Cyberbullying

Independent

Lesson

15

Online Safety

Week 3

Texting Safety Discussion (Review)

Whole Group

Discussion

15

Online Safety

Week 3

Summer Online Safety PSA

Small Group

Application Exercise

90

Online Safety

Week 4

Summer Online Safety PSA (Continued)

Small Group

Application Exercise

Online Safety

Week 4

Summer Online Safety PSA (Presentations)

Whole Group

Online Safety

Week 4

Technology Showcase (Optional)

Keyboarding

All

Adaptive Keyboarding: Urban Keyboarding Explorer

Whole Group

Adaptive Keyboarding

Tips & Suggestions – Online Safety is important to revisit at the end of the year to remind students that they need to be smart when online whether at home or at school. Provide parents with resources to help them keep their students safe online. See the Parent Online Safety Guide found here. Provide students and parents with ideas for continuing to practice their Digital Literacy skills during the summer.